Geoff Travis mentions The Smiths in article on corporate sponsors and bands

The great rock'n'roll sellout - by Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian
Gone are the days when bands would be scorned for getting into bed with corporate sponsors and brands, so what ever happened to "selling out"?

Excerpt:

The new battleground was adverts. In 1988, Neil Young mocked the practice in This Note's for You: "Ain't singin' for Pepsi/ Ain't singin' for Coke/ I don't sing for nobody/ Makes me look like a joke." But indie never faced such a dilemma – Coca-Cola weren't exactly in hot pursuit of Dinosaur Jr or Foetus in 1985. Marks says that at Homestead, "I'm not sure we could have sold out if we'd wanted to." Travis agrees: "It was a very different culture then. If someone had been clever enough to give the Smiths half a million pounds to do an ad, I would have been very interested to see what they would have said."
 
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It can be a false economy as the subsequent loss of earnings due to loss of credibility can exceed the pay check from the ad. The trick is to sell-out on the way down and the Smiths were not on the way down at Rough Trade. Lydon's butter adverts & Iggy's insurance ads should serve as a warning to any artist to use a long spoon when supping with the devil.
 
Re: Article: Geoff Travis mentions The Smiths in article on corporate sponsors and ba


Honestly, what that meant then is totally different to what it means to everyone who has experienced since then. I am assuming you were living when that song was a hit or for four years afterward. That was one of THE SONGS of the time. To everyone else, it's Beethoven's 5th. Everyone knows it. It means 'this'. Everyone agrees on what 'this' is. Einstein got it. Time is relative. We were on the train looking at the light bulb.
 
Re: Article: Geoff Travis mentions The Smiths in article on corporate sponsors and ba

'Travis, for those who like their trade rough...'

Didn't the Smiths do an ad for Pepe Jeans?
Woody Allen has done adverts, they were only shown in japan though and he still has cred or he would have IF he could make good films again..
 
i heard every day is like sunday on NFL FOX last season sung by another.
 
The Pepe ad was 1988, post Smiths.

I liked Lydon's butter ads but Iggy's are as tired as the Go Compare bloke.
 
Re: Article: Geoff Travis mentions The Smiths in article on corporate sponsors and ba

Didn't the Smiths do an ad for Pepe Jeans?
Woody Allen has done adverts, they were only shown in japan though and he still has cred or he would have IF he could make good films again..

I think you should save your criticisms of his films for Woody-Solo.com.
 

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